ALSO ON HAGEL’S AGENDA — The Pentagon chief is meeting with the Joint Chiefs to talk strategy and the budget.

ON CAPITOL HILL … THE CR ADVANCES— The Senate will resume consideration of a continuing resolution this morning after making progress on the floor yesterday. An amendment to defund the president’s signature health care reform law failed, but five Democrats joined Sen. John McCain and the Republicans to cut approximately $120 million for projects in Guam from the defense portion of the bill.

The bill would fund government beyond March 27 and provide DoD with a full-year spending plan. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has expressed hope for passing the bill this week.

BUDGET BATTLES LOOM — Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray yesterday unveiled the Senate Democratic budget for fiscal 2014 and beyond. The bottom line for defense: Under the plan, sequestration would be replaced with discretionary cuts, as well as new revenues, but the Pentagon would still take a $240 billion reduction over the next decade. Tim has the nitty gritty, for Pros: http://politico.pro/ZJnck7

SEQUESTRATION SOLUTIONS BREWING? POLITICO’s David Rogers has some behind-the-scenes details that hint at the president’s next moves: “Meeting with Senate Democrats on Tuesday, Obama signaled that absent some shift by the GOP, the one route out of sequestration would be through the budget resolution process and the potential for a meaningful House-Senate conference this spring. On the day that sequestration was ordered, in fact, the president reached out to Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.). At the Tuesday caucus, he again urged Democrats to stand behind her to get to this next step with the House.” http://politi.co/XJXv4S

McKEON RETURNS FROM AFGHANISTAN — Fresh off a trip to Afghanistan,HASC Chairman Buck McKeon said that a post-2014 U.S. force of 13,600 troops, combined with a coalition force of approximately 6,000, would be the option with “the least risk going forward,” the AP reports. Gen. Joseph Dunford, the top commander in Afghanistan, and U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham both favor these figures, McKeon said. http://bit.ly/ZJnCXG

TOP STORY: ‘VETERANS TESTIFY ON RAPES AND SCANT HOPE OF JUSTICE,’ by NYT’s Jennifer Steinhauer — “Choking back tears and in voices edged with rage, two women and a man who served in the American military told a Senate panel on Wednesday how they were raped by superiors and then ridiculed or ignored by military officials from whom they sought help. The three former service members, the first military sexual assault victims to testify before a Senate panel, described a pervasive culture of harassment and danger in which victims had little or no redress.” http://nyti.ms/13U2of4

— ‘CONVENING AUTHORITY’ UNDER FIRE: Reps. Niki Tsongas and Mike Turner are asking the Air Force to explain the necessity of “post-trial review,” which allows certain military commanders to overturn court-martial convictions. The request comes in response to a commander’s decision to nullify a jury’s conviction of an Air Force officer on charges of aggravated sexual assault. “Over the last several months, we had become optimistic that the Air Force was making some notable progress in investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating sexual assault crimes,” the two lawmakers wrote in a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. “Unfortunately, this decision seems to be a step backward.”

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WHAT PROS ARE READING:

— AIA FACES POST-SEQUESTER WORLD, by POLITICO’s Leigh Munsil: “Sequestration has begun — and the defense industry is beginning to take stock. The Aerospace Industries Association, for one, went all in during the year-and-a-half-long battle to stave it off — and lost.” http://politi.co/ZBLsmZ

— TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN WORRY ABOUT CUTS, by POLITICO’s Stephanie Gaskell: “Maj. Gen. Robert Abrams, who leads U.S. and NATO troops in Regional Command-South, told reporters at the Pentagon that concerns about the Pentagon’s budget uncertainty have made it all the way downrange.” http://politico.pro/WozSxX

— GENERALS DETAIL CHOICE TO SUSPEND TUITION ASSISTANCE, by POLITICO’s Juana Summers: “Marine Corps, Army and Air Force officials on Wednesday detailed their decision to suspend tuition assistance for thousands of service members, a move they say was forced by sequestration taking effect March 1.” http://politico.pro/YadU2e

WHO’S WHERE WHEN:

10 a.m.: The House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on economic opportunity holds a hearing on Guard and Reserve unemployment.

11 a.m.: The Center for National Policy hosts an event in Washington titled, “10 Years in Iraq: Perspectives from Washington to the Front Line.” Panelists include Katherine Brown, former assistant to the national security adviser at the National Security Council; John Gannon, former deputy director for intelligence at the CIA; and Patrick Garvey, former senior professional staff member for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

1 p.m.: The Center for National Policy holds a second panel featuring veterans and journalists talking about their experiences on the front lines during the Iraq War. Speakers include Hannah Allam, former Baghdad bureau chief for McClatchy News Service; Rajiv Chandrasekaran, The Washington Post’s bureau chief in Baghdad for the first two years of the Iraq war; Jason Fritz, 3d Infantry Division from 2003 until 2008; and Manan Trivedi, medical team commander for the first ground troops to cross the line and enter Iraq in 2003.

Noon: Barry Blechman of the Stimson Center, Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense and and Nora Bensahel of Center for a New American Security participate in a Cato forum in Washington titled “Strategy, Not Math: The Emerging Consensus on National Security in an Era of Austerity.”

1:30 p.m.: The House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations holds a hearing on VA wait times for medical appointments.

— BAE DIRECTOR HEADS TO ARMORSOURCE: Carl Fulmore is leaving BAE Systems for ArmorSource, an Ohio-based company that makes ballistic helmets. Fulmore, currently a director of business development at BAE, is an Army veteran who served in the infantry, special forces and acquisition corps. At ArmorSource, where he’ll oversee the company’s domestic business, Fulmore’s official title will be vice president of business development, the company said in a news release.

— BROOKINGS LAUNCHES 21CSI: The think tank has launched a new Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, which will address “defense, cybersecurity, arms control and intelligence challenges in a comprehensive manner,” according to a news release. The center will be housed within the Foreign Policy program at Brookings, with Peter W. Singer as its founding director. Michael O’Hanlon will lead the center’s defense policy team.

SPEED READ:

— John McCain has an op-ed this morning in The Wall Street Journal looking back on Vietnam four decades since he was released as a prisoner of war there. http://on.wsj.com/10If2tr

— The Virginian-Pilot reports that the Navy has given Sen. Mark Warner its highest civilian honor, the Distinguished Public Service Award, for his work on the budget and intelligence committees. http://bit.ly/Z0CwX9

— Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, charged with killing 16 Afghan civilians, is to undergo a court-ordered review of his sanity this weekend, the AP reports. http://bit.ly/Xw7P2E

THAT’S ALL FOR US. Have a great Thursday.

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